1937
Let me begin this column by noting the pleasure Sherry and I had from the number of Christmas cards we received from so many of you. I guess every one of them contained some word about "See you in Hanover in June." Which reminds me that the latest count from Bob Turner on those so far reporting on their Reunion plans is as follows: 114 definitely will be on hand; 44 possible but not certain; 33 probably not able to attend.
Our holiday mail was saddened by word of the untimely death of Henry C. WhitakerJr. who died in Barre, Vt., of a severe coronary attack on December 14. Dave Camerer, who of course played football with Hank, has kindly agreed to write an "In Memoriam" column which will appear elsewhere in this or a subsequent issue. Hank was a well-known and well-respected member of the Class whom we will sorely miss as the years go by.
When you thumb through our '37 directory, you can't help but notice the variety of occupations in which we are engaged. But now a new one, and the darndest one yet, has just come to my attention, and it concerns Frank Danzig, our radio and TV tycoon out in Los Angeles. It seems that Frank's firm of Ross-Danzig has been deeply involved in a local TV show that has generated so much local appeal that the program will shortly be televised nationally. And the name of this show is "Yoga for Health." Not only will instructions in the fine art of yoga be given over television but along with this there will be a new four-side LP album called "Yoga for Life" available for practice between lessons. I trust that Frank and his good wife Kay will be able to keep their promise of "See you in June." Maybe we can get Frank to bring us one of those albums as a door prize!
Don McKinlay is working up plans for a fine "Hanover Holiday" type of program for Thursday evening and Friday morning of Reunion. One of the many who filled in a questionnaire for Don was Ralph Griffith, our jeweler from Providence, R. L, who most unhappily will be involved in a selling trip just at Reunion time. Ralph enclosed a delightful letter with his questionnaire which goes in part like this:
My wife Kathleen and three sons (almost 15, 13 and 9) live here on Narragansett Bay and we look out our front door at Quonset Point Naval Air Station which is ten miles due South - the five of us, plus our Golden Retriever, three cats and some goldfish!
My oldest is in his second year (9th grade) at Manlius Military School near Syracuse and is doing very well after a rocky start last year. The other two are in school here.
This is a house that we used to live in summers - but have converted to year-round occupancy. On one side (in summer) is a man whose two sons are recent graduates of Dartmouth - on the other side is another fellow who graduated about four years ago. Two houses to the rear is a classmate of his from Hanover who just graduated last June from Chicago University Law School!
I have just come across a clipping on an interview with Bert Geller, executive vicepresident of Andrew Geller, in which Bert gave his ideas on future style trends in women's shoes. Maybe as a special event at Reunion we could prevail on Bert, along with others like Stan Lappin of Filene's, John Maloon of J. C. Penney, or Gus Farwell of Warner Bros., to give our ladies some tips on future trends in the fashion world.
On the distaff side, I sometimes get clippings of newspaper articles covering the activities of some of our wives. Some months ago I had a long story on Jane Brown, wife of Bill Brown, which described her election to the post of Republican State Committeewoman and her active politicking in Massachusetts. And now I have another long article covering Frank Kaufman's wife, Clementina, who likewise seems to lead an extraordinarily full but effective life. Her most recently acquired responsibility is that of the presidency of the board of managers of the Montrose Training School for Girls just outside Baltimore.
Just in case you are led to believe that our wives are doing all the worthwhile social work, let me report that Dick Cooper has just accepted the presidency of the Eastern District of N. H. State YMCA Board of Directors for the coming year.
By the time this column reaches you, I will be on my way to Hanover to attend the Freshman Fathers' Weekend, an event I also took in three years ago and which I am looking forward to again with real pleasure. Since there are a goodly number of us with sons in the Class of 1965, I will look to see you there, and hopefully gather up some fresh news for next month's column.
Secretary, 25 Old Stamford Rd. New Canaan, Conn.
Treasurer, 17 High St., Greenfield, Mass.
